Navizon’s devilishly clever wireless positioning system

December 21, 2005 In early 2005, a small group of hardcore GPS geeks (who were tired of their GPS devices not working in dense cities, urban canyons, indoors, etc) got together to come up with a solution that would enhance the performance of their GPS equipment and applications. The goal was to find a way to make GPS devices work in all situations. The result was Navizon Pocket PC Client Software. Now the group has developed an ingenious P2P network that enables people to accurately navigate urban and suburban areas using WiFi and a cellular devices (cell phones) - a dynamic, collaborative, networked "Wireless Positioning System" using wireless signals (Cellular and 802.11 WiFI). The Navizon Network is worth a look if you are a city dweller as it enables you to have accurate GPS on your mobile phone. The Navizon network is based on a collaborative database. Members with a GPS device can use Navizon to map the Wi-Fi and cellular landscape in their neighborhoods. Once they synchronize their data, it is made available to all the other users of the network. This way, users who don't have a GPS device can benefit from a positioning system. And it's free for personal use!

When GPS signals are available Navizon uses this information to build an accurate map of the WiFi and Cellular "Landscape" around a user (it determines the exact Latitude/Longitude of Wireless Access Points and Cellular Towers within a city, neighborhood or territory) and then stores this positioning information locally on your device.

Which means that once you’ve loaded the software on your phone or PDA, the Navizon Wireless Positioning seamlessly and transparently engages your Personal Navigation software applications and you're navigating without a GPS device!

After Editing or Managing over 50 print publications primarily in the role of a Magazine Doctor, Mike embraced the internet full-time in 1995 and became a "start-up all-rounder" – quite a few start-ups later, he founded Gizmag in 2002. Now he can write again. All articles by Mike Hanlon